Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Minjeong hadn't known she would be here.

Jimin had her pinned against the wall, hands firmly holding her waist like a lifeline—not Jimin's, hers—as if Minjeong was gonna collapse if the taller woman didn't hold her down.

And she might. She's pretty sure this was how she was gonna die, with Jimin nipping just below her ear, her most sensitive spot, causing her whole body to shiver. She was a mess just from the sensation of Jimin's hot breath against her skin.

"Jimin, wait—" She held the woman by the shoulder, but Jimin just kept at it, kept knocking the air out of Minjeong's lungs. It would have been easier if this was just something else entirely, like this wasn't Yu Jimin touching her, the same person who had been gradually peeling away at her carefully constructed walls.

Yu Jimin, who was Minjeong's first love. Jimin, who'd already had her heart from the start, was setting her skin on fire just as easily as a lit match in a gunpowder room.

"What?" Jimin—sharper than intended—had begun trailing kisses down her neck, to her collarbone. "You don't like it?" There was a teasing lilt to her voice, like she knew exactly Minjeong's resistance was full of shit. "Tell me you don't like it and I'll stop," she whispered, the vibration going through Minjeong's chest. The following ache it brought to Minjeong's body was killing her from the inside-out.

"N-no…" she managed to stammer out, "I'm just, god—" Jimin pressed her fingers more firmly against her waist, like she was grounding herself now instead of Minjeong. Her kisses started becoming open-mouthed that the blonde's neck was getting covered in her sweet, sweet spit. "I don't know…"

Jimin paused, her hardeasy work glistening on Minjeong's neck. "Don't know what?" Jimin's tone had turned serious now, which kind of scared the younger woman. "Don't know what you want? Or don't know if you want it?"

The question struck a chord within her. What did she want? Maybe she didn't know if she could want it. Her brain cells must have been acting up because she didn't know how to answer that, not to herself, not even as a lie to Jimin.

"I… I want… this," Minjeong whispered, barely audible, and if Jimin hadn't spared a glance at her lips she would have missed it. Missed the words she needed to hear. Minjeong's full, uncomplicated approval to take her, right here, right now.

Minjeong's hand then found itself on the back of Jimin's neck, pulling her in for a searing kiss. Not like the one earlier, after Jimin had cornered her asking all these questions that she would rather not answer.

I wasn't trying to play any games, Jimin. I wasn't—I couldn't do that to you. Not when it's you.

Jimin had been the one to ask Minjeong what it was that was stopping her from taking the next step. Letting Jimin in. Not caring about what other people think. Hell, the only ones they should be worried about were Aeri and Yizhuo, and even those two wouldn't even take it badly. (Aeri would have a ball, honestly, and Yizhuo would have the shock of her best-friend-life, but they would totally support it.) 

It shouldn't have mattered that people around them would have something to say. But she was afraid, goddamn it she was terrified. That yes, Kim Minjeong had a heart. That she wasn't just this top-tier manager at the company, that she wasn't just the nerdy suck-up in class. She wasn't keen on the idea that she was going to be known for what was on the inside, not when she worked so hard for everything that she had right now.

At the sudden change of pace from Minjeong, Jimin hummed in approval. There was no turning back now. She tilted her head, deepening the kiss once again. This time, there was fervor in the way she moved, and goddamn it if it didn't make Minjeong's core ache. Pressure building in the pit of her stomach, Minjeong let out a moan, tiny, but there. And Jimin heard it, of course. Of course she did. She responded by squeezing Minjeong's hip.

The next few minutes were spent with the two of them kissing, Jimin putting pressure on her waist, hip, or tangling a hand in her hair every now and then. Minjeong could only make sounds in response, too overwhelmed and also too shy to do more than encircle her arms around the taller woman's neck. God, she wished she had the courage to touch that slender, long neck, but she was too afraid to do more, even now. Even when she had been the one to pull Jimin back into the kiss.

After a while, Jimin pulled her closer, leading her to the bedroom. She laughed when her back hit the door of Minjeong's bedroom, forgetting it was shut. Minjeong laughed as well, twisting the doorknob behind the woman. They crashed onto the bed with Jimin on top, who proceeded to pepper the blonde's neck with wet kisses.

Minjeong could feel the older woman's body, flush against hers, and warm. Comfortingly warm. She gasped at the realization, which was at the same time as Jimin sucked on her skin. They had never been this close before. She held back another sound of protest but Jimin sensed it.

Jimin paused, going face to face with her and looking like she was just coming up for air. Minjeong reveled in the sight. Jimin's cheeks were tinted pink, her colored lip balm smudged at the edges of her mouth, if there was any left.

"Are you alright?" Jimin asked softly. The way in which she said it was so sweet that Minjeong couldn't help the smile on her face. She lifted a hand to tuck the stray lock of hair behind the older woman's ear. 

The action only piqued Jimin's interest. She tilted her head, looking for an answer. "Hm?"

"Nothing, it's just…" Minjeong started, "you… I mean, it feels so nice, being this close to you."

She couldn't blush any more than she was right now when Jimin smiled down at her, like she was amused. Honestly, to Jimin, it was adorable. Maybe she just has that face, Minjeong thought.

"Me too. I mean—yes. I mean, it feels nice for me too."

The blonde couldn't fight the giggle that escaped her. It seemed Jimin was nervous about this too.

Then, she suddenly remembered, she hadn't done this in years.

"Um, before we continue," Minjeong said, "I have to tell you. It's… been a while for me."

"Oh."

The younger woman chuckled. "Yeah. Oh."

Jimin seemed to ponder for a few seconds. Then, she asked, "I see. Do you want to stop?"

Minjeong felt a bit shy, because Jimin had been so, so patient with her. She didn't mean to lead her on, she did want to do this. But the back and forth, she couldn't understand why she was being so hesitant, like she was dangling a toy in front of Jimin. Or maybe, she was feeling like this because she didn't want to disappoint the older woman.

Then, it was like Jimin had read her mind, because the next words surprised her.

"Are you afraid it won't be good for me?" Jimin was looking straight into her eyes, not intense, but again with that softness that seemed to be reserved for her. She continued, "'Cause I was thinking the same thing. I don't want to mess this up, you know?"

Oh.

Minjeong thought about her next words carefully.

"That's… accurate. Yes, I was thinking of that."

Jimin laughed. "Still so professional even in bed, Miss Kim."

"I have half a mind to push you off and kick you out right now," Minjeong retorted, lightly smacking Jimin's shoulder. Jimin just laughed even louder.

Minjeong pinched her ear, remembering how Mrs. Seo did so to scold Jimin.

"Ow—hey no pulling!"

When Minjeong continued to grip her ear, Jimin proceeded to lean down and capture her lips in a deep kiss. That seemed to loosen Minjeong's hold on her, her hand dropping next to her head on the pillow.

After a minute, Jimin pulled away, looking into her eyes. She was breathing heavily. She lifted one hand up, the other supporting her own weight. Jimin was asking for permission.

"Can I touch you?"

Minjeong nodded. Jimin leaned down once more, continuing the kiss. Then, her hand made its way to Minjeong's breast, squeezing lightly. When Minjeong moaned, she squeezed harder, eliciting a louder sound from the woman beneath her. Jimin took that as a cue to find Minjeong's nipples, pinching where she felt the hardness coming through.

God, I can't believe this is happening, Jimin thought.

She pulled away, trailing kisses from the blonde's mouth to her cheek, her jaw, then to her neck. She kissed where Minjeong's neck and collarbone met, then up to her pulse point. She sucked with just enough pressure to send a tingling feeling down Minjeong's spine. It was like Jimin knew just where to kiss to make her body ache so much for more.

Jimin went lower, down to her chest. She touched the button of her blouse, looking up at Minjeong. The younger woman nodded in approval. Jimin sat up, using both her hands to undo the buttons. She went back to her previous position, her lips hovering over Minjeong's exposed chest. Minjeong blushed at the sight because Jimin was looking at her as she placed open-mouthed kisses on her exposed mounds.

She unhooked the strap of Minjeong's bra, finally freeing her tits.

"I'm taking this off," Jimin said, pulling off Minjeong's blouse. "And this." She reached for the bra strap. "It's getting in the way." She smirked, then proceeded to take off her own top clothing.

Minjeong's eyes widened at the sight. Yu Jimin was sitting on top of her, chest fully exposed. Jimin's breasts bounced at the removal of her own bra.

Oh my god.

Jimin chuckled. "Like what you see, huh?"

Crap. Did she say that out loud?

"No, but I could tell from your face."

Jimin was definitely a mind-reader.

Minjeong's cheeks turned red. "I was not—"

"Shh, it's okay, you can look, Miss Kim."

It really was unfair for Jimin to look like this. She had never looked at Jimin that way, not even after their first kiss. But of course she was perfect, probably sculpted by the gods themselves because oh my god, Yu Jimin was toned and blessed. Not only did she look perfect, she also seemed to know how to make a woman wet without even trying. Minjeong squeezed her eyes shut at the thought.

"Hey… look at me." Jimin said, prompting Minjeong to open her eyes. "Good. I want to see you… to look at you. Only close your eyes when you can't keep them open anymore, okay? I got you."

She was so fucking gentle it sent another ache down Minjeong's core.

Jimin continued kissing her body, taking one of Minjeong's breasts in her hand and the other in her mouth. She made work of sucking her nipple, lightly biting at the nub. Her hand was tracing patterns on the other one, pinching. She continued doing just that, shifting between the two.

She continued kissing downwards, taking her sweet time worshipping the woman. Minjeong groaned, the soft kisses in agonizing pace making her wetter. She clamped her legs together, aching for contact.  At the sound, Jimin gently pried her legs apart and cupped her pussy above the fabric of her slacks. Minjeong's hips jerked at the contact, surprised even though she was so close to begging for it.

She couldn't take it anymore. "J-Jimin, please…"

Jimin placed a kiss at her hip. "That's it, tell me what you want."

The younger woman whined, gesturing to her pants, "Off… please."

Jimin heeded her request, not wasting any time and taking her panties off with it. She immediately got in there, running strokes up and down Minjeong's clit and her hole.

"Mmh… inside..." Minjeong moaned. Jimin inserted the tip of her finger into Minjeong's hole. She gently spread the hole of her wet cunt, testing her reaction. When Minjeong got even wetter, Jimin covered the rest of her fingers with her slick, then fully inserted one finger, starting at a slow pace.

"Oh—fuck, Jimin, ah…"

Jimin added another finger, going down to kiss Minjeong. She thrusted at a faster but steadier pace, eliciting cries of pleasure from the younger woman. The kiss was sloppy and dirty as could be from the kissing and Minjeong's muffled cries. Jimin started curling her fingers with each thrust, causing non-stop moans to escape the younger woman.

"F-fuck, Jimin. More, god please…"

"Hm," Jimin hummed against her mouth, her tongue making good work inside it as well. She let out a groan herself, completely turned on and feeling Minjeong's pleasure as her own. She curled and thrusted her fingers at a dire pace. In a split second, Jimin suddenly added a third finger. Minjeong’s pussy was so soaked, so tight and perfectly swallowing her whole. 

“Good girl, you’re taking me so well.”

Minjeong gasped. The praise went straight through her. How could Jimin know she wanted it like this? How could she— “Gahh mmh…Jimin. So… good…”

The sounds of skin meeting flesh filled the room. Jimin’s thrusts made squelching sounds against Minjeong’s dripping cunt. The younger woman couldn’t focus anymore as she was being fucked to oblivion by Jimin. Perfect, absolutely perfect Jimin, whose tits were bouncing with each thrust. The sight alone made her want to cum. Jimin continued licking into Minjeong’s mouth, the scene getting filthier by the second. 

As she felt Minjeong's walls tightening, she sped up her pace, drawing incoherent sounds from the blonde. She pressed her thumb against Minjeong’s clit, finally sending her over the edge.

A yell tore out from Minjeong's throat as Jimin let her ride out her orgasm.  A moment later, her hand reached out to Jimin's to make her stop as she didn’t seem to want to, her core too sensitive. They pulled away with a final kiss, and Jimin placed soothing ones across her cheeks. She pulled out, tasting Minjeong's sweet slick on her hand.

"Mm, you taste good."

Minjeong, abashed, covered her face with the back of her palm, earning a giggle from the older woman. Jimin grabbed a tissue from the nightstand, settling beside her and wiping the rest of the cum from her hand. The younger woman made a move to get on top of her but Jimin stopped her.

"Huh?"

"Ah," Jimin exhaled. She smiled, but the exhaustion was evident on her face. "I'm beat. I was up all night yesterday finishing documents for the client…"

"Oh," muttered Minjeong, her face straight. It wasn't that she was disappointed, but she had wanted to make Jimin feel as good as she did. She made a mental note to ask Miss Kang why those documents had to be crammed in one night.

"It's fine, Minjeong-ah." Jimin pulled her into a cuddling position, fixing Minjeong's mussed up hair and tucking it to the side. The blonde settled into the embrace, placing an arm around Jimin's waist. The older woman pulled the blanket over them. "We have plenty of time, right?"

The implication of a 'next time' did something to Minjeong's stomach. She wasn't sure if she was gonna throw up or shit herself. None of those options sounded good, but she figured that this was a good thing. She didn't feel hurried, and the thought of doing this again with Jimin put a smile on her face.

"Yeah. Yeah, we do." She looked up at Jimin, still smiling but already feeling slumber take over. Her eyelids drooped. "Good night, Jimin."

Jimin smiled back, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Good night. Sleep well, Minjeong."

The sunlight filtered in through the half-drawn curtains of Minjeong's bedroom. Thankfully, it wasn't hitting Jimin straight in the face, but the light woke her up nonetheless. She scanned the unfamiliar surroundings; then she remembered, she had slept over at Minjeong's place. And that was also when she saw it: the strange colorful whiteboard. She made a move to get up but there was a weight on her shoulder.

Minjeong stirred awake. "Mmh." Oh yes, this too.

Last night had been eventful. Her eyes focused on the blonde who was currently lying on her chest. She was barefaced. Jimin imagined her sneaking off from bed late at night, washing her face and remembering her skincare. Her imagination wasn't so far off, given Minjeong's attention to detail. Jimin chuckled. Even without makeup, Minjeong looked beautiful just like this. In fact, Jimin would say she looked better but knowing her, she would probably not take it as a compliment if Jimin voiced it out.

Minjeong blinked up at her, one eye shut from the sunlight. "What are you laughing about?"

It was probably meant to sound mean, given her track record, but it just sounded nasal and cute. Jimin ruffled her hair. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

"Hmm," Minjeong hummed, nodding. "You?"

"I did." Jimin spared a glance at the whiteboard. "Say, what's with the post-its?"

Minjeong's eyes widened at the question. Suddenly, she was fully awake. She immediately palmed Jimin's eyes to prevent her from looking at it.

"Whoa," Jimin laughed. "Why are you covering my eyes?"

"Nothing, don't look at it!"

Jimin tried to remove the hand. "But it's just a—"

"Don't look!" she repeated, moving to lay on top of the woman. Perfect, distract her with your body, Minjeong thought.

"Alright, alright, I won't look," Jimin said, turning her head away. "You can remove your hand now."

"Thank you," Minjeong replied, muffled from having her face on the pillow.

Minjeong had asked her if they could instead stay in the living room because she didn’t want to go into why there was a strange-looking whiteboard full of post-its. Granted, Minjeong was a busy person, but didn’t she clean it out after events or notes had been resolved? Minjeong was a proper human being, she was an organized perfectionist, hence the description of ‘strange.’ Jimin didn’t understand what the fuss was all about. And so here they were in the living room with Jimin comfortably seated on the sofa with her legs folded up at the knees. Minjeong was just beside her but the level of comfort was the opposite. Minjeong wished it wasn't a weekend because with work she could have avoided the aftermath for as long as possible. 

Earlier Jimin had suddenly felt hungry, saving Minjeong from post-it-whiteboard related questions. They opted to order naengmyeon as per Jimin’s request, which was refuted by Minjeong saying it was too early and that naengmyeon wasn’t exactly breakfast food. Jimin had argued that naengmyeon was definitely perfect as an appetite cleanser from last night, her words. Minjeong just let her be and ordered a hot soup of her own.

Good thing it was a Saturday because she did not have time to argue about breakfast preferences. The dinner from last night had already turned cold and they opted to save it for lunch, putting it in the fridge.

And maybe it was just Jimin’s way of letting her take her time, she would like to think, but who would even think that there was something so relevant about some wall of colorful paper? Only Minjeong, that’s who. 

Minjeong decided to turn on the TV, going to Netflix and letting Jimin pick the show. 

“Oh!” Jimin exclaimed, causing Minjeong to look at her. “You watch Grey’s Anatomy?” she asked upon seeing Minjeong’s Continue Watching. Apparently she’d been rewatching, because Jimin found it hard to believe that she was still on season 5. 

“Yeah, I can’t count how many times I’ve rewatched it.” 

“I’m on my millionth rewatch! Oh my god, please tell me you aren’t on the Double-O seven episode.” Jimin looked at her eagerly. “We have to watch it together.” 

“I’m almost there.” Minjeong nonchalantly clicked select on the show, starting the next episode. 

Minjeong ended up bawling by the end of the season finale. 

“Aww, you poor thing.” Jimin reached out to pat her on the head. Minjeong's first instinct was to avoid it but she let Jimin be, blowing her nose into a tissue. 

“I can’t believe this episode still gets me,” Minjeong bawled. Her nose was already red from crying. 

Jimin scooted closer, placing an arm around Minjeong and rubbing her arm to comfort her. “You know what, me too. And holy shit, Meredith’s reaction? Absolute cinema.”

Minjeong giggled, just realizing their predicament. They were such geeks about this show. 

“What?” Jimin asked. 

Minjeong’s laughter died down with a sigh. “Nothing, it’s just… I can’t believe we both love Grey’s Anatomy.”

“Hm… I used to watch this a lot with Aeri when we were kids. You know, for someone so uptight, you sure do love watching a show with so many sex scenes.”

That earned her a slap on her thigh.

“God, woman! Ouch!”

It was true. Minjeong did seem like the conservative type. But someone so uptight could only take so much. It was both her guilty pleasure and her comfort show. She was an adult, for goodness' sake.

“Shut up. This is my comfort show.”

Jimin suddenly thought of all the things they could have had in common. Because, despite everything that had already happened between the two of them, she realized she didn’t even know some basic things about Minjeong. Her favorite color, her pet peeves, her… favorite celebrities? She’d probably run out of stuff to think about but she wanted to ask them anyway. 

“Do you like cats or dogs?” Jimin asked.

Minjeong glanced at her. “Um, both. But I’m more of a dog person. Why do you ask?”

Jimin shrugged. “Nothing, just curious.” A beat passed. “Do you have a favorite singer?”

Minjeong snickered. “What is this, an interrogation?” She could sense Jimin rolling her eyes, so she answered, “I don’t have a specific one, I just tend to listen to an artist’s songs for a period of time until I get tired of it. Then, I find another when I’m in the mood again. Hm… right now I listen to a lot of Kehlani.”

“Ooh, love Kehlani. Well, I like listening to alternative rock so you’ll find a lot of that in my playlist. But honestly I kind of do that too.”

Minjeong shrugged. “It’s just easier sticking to an artist and finding you’d memorized their songs in that period of time. I’m not really a shuffler. I like going through an artist’s discography.”

“It makes perfect sense,” Jimin agreed, nodding. 

They were silent for a while, content in each other’s space. Jimin’s index finger traced circles on Minjeong’s arm while the latter just melted into her side. 

“This is nice,” stated Jimin.

“Yeah… you’re so soft I could sleep on you.” The blonde snuggled even closer, burying her face in Jimin’s neck. “And you smell nice.”

Jimin sniffed her shirt—well, technically Minjeong’s sleep shirt that she had borrowed this morning. 

“I smell like yesterday.”

That made Minjeong only hug her tighter. “No, you smell really good. When I—“ Sniff. “Smell you, it’s like, ‘wow, that’s a woman.’”

Now this was something new. It was like she was hearing a different person talk. “Really? When you smell me?” Jimin grinned.

Minjeong just nuzzled her nose more into the older woman's neck. “Shut up and let me sniff you.”

They fell asleep shortly after that. When they awoke, it was already nearing lunch. Minjeong thought she'd be the first to wake up but she found Jimin, still holding her while she was busy scrolling on her phone. She then glanced at the window; the sun was still up and bright.

"Mm, is it still morning?" Minjeong asked, voice still heavy with sleep.

"Oh, you're up." Jimin checked the time on her phone. "It's almost lunch. You hungry?"

Minjeong shook her head. "Not really."

"Hey, look at this." Jimin showed her her phone. "I found our old class photo."

That had Minjeong sitting up. She cringed upon seeing her younger self. "Ugh. I looked terrible."

"Whaaat no! Honestly, you look really cute here. Look." Jimin zoomed in on the picture.

The blonde rolled her eyes, lightly shoving Jimin by the shoulder. "You're just saying that because you want to get into my pants."

Jimin raised an eyebrow. "Haven't I already?"

Silence.

"…shut up."

The older woman laughed, leaning in to place a soft kiss on her cheek. Minjeong tried to move away, but not so much that Jimin couldn't give her a kiss anyway. "I'm serious. You weren't… bad looking," said Jimin. "Actually, I was gonna give you a present on white day…"

Minjeong's cheeks heated up. "You… what?"

There's no way she just said that.

"Yeah, really. But uh, I was gonna put fart spray in it," Jimin said nonchalantly. Because of course, those were just normal shenanigans for sixteen-year-old-Jimin.

Minjeong threatened to send a flick to her forehead, making her flinch. "Seriously, Yu Jimin."

"But I didn't do it! Okay?" Jimin said defensively. "I uh… forgot it at home…" She grimaced. Minjeong grumbled at that. She really was gonna give Jimin a beating someday.

"Yu Jimin, I can't believe you…"

Jimin just smiled at her silly, and it was like Minjeong already forgot that Jimin was really out to get her with the way the older woman was looking at her.

"Heh." Jimin smiled goofily. "Well, now that I think about it…" She panned the class photo to her own face. "I mean, wow, I was skinny as hell. But damn, look at me..." She then looked intently at herself in the photo, just for good measure. "Are you sure you didn't have a crush on me? Not even once?"

That prompted an eyeroll from Minjeong. Though yes, she did have a crush on her. But Jimin didn't need to know that.

"I so did not," she denied.

Jimin just nodded continuously, humming, like she was pretending to buy it.

Why did she keep doing this? Minjeong wanted to hit her again. Was Jimin not getting tired of being hit? Why did she keep saying things that made the blonde wanna smack her?

Jimin couldn't see it, but she knew the younger woman was glowering. "Please don't hit me again," she begged in a low voice.

"Fine."

Jimin started talking about their peers in high school, starting off with Ning Yizhuo and Uchinaga Aeri. Of course, Jimin had no idea that Minjeong and Yizhuo had stayed in contact all these years, and became best friends at that. One could say that the four of them were now in this unexpected circle, given their connections to one another.

Then the older woman started talking about the others like it was the latest gossip. Minjeong found herself in a game of who's-who, not really remembering their classmates that much. She was too focused on academics back then. Jimin would talk animatedly, gasping as if it was so appalling that the younger woman did not recognize some names anymore.

"It was Huh Yunjin!" Jimin exclaimed. "I swear on my life, I did not hide your things. I prefer emotional torture, thank you."

Huh Yunjin was actually an upperclassman that liked to play pranks on Minjeong. And because she was older, she was not afraid of Minjeong.

Jimin then came to a realization, "Huh. I think she might have had a crush on you."

Minjeong looked at her incredulously. She could never believe anything that came out of the older woman's mouth. "She what, now?"

"She asked me for your number once…" Jimin mumbled. And speaking of numbers, she suddenly remembered the paper Minjeong gave her with her number on it. "Hey, remember when you gave me your number? I uh…" she said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck, "still have it in my contacts."

Well, this was a surprise. Also because she had done the same, but didn't expect Jimin to have kept it after all these years.

"You did?" She looked up at Jimin, her gaze soft.

Jimin smiled at her. "Hm, yeah."

The two of them just looked into each other's eyes for a few moments. Jimin was the first to break eye contact, and her eyes first land on the bedroom door.

Minjeong immediately noticed this. She mentally prepared herself for Jimin's ability to jump from one topic to another the moment she laid eyes on something or heard a topic piquing her interest. And what did Minjeong's bedroom contain? The whiteboard, of course.

Jimin looked back at her again. "Hey I'm just curious, what's with the big whiteboard?" she asked, not really thinking much of it, unaware of Minjeong's inner turmoil.

The younger woman found herself rubbing her face. There was probably no escaping this now.

"It's…" Minjeong hesitated. "Just, you know… post-its that I've kept."

Jimin just looked at her, urging her to elaborate. Minjeong really didn't want to explain this. She found herself blushing, feeling heat creep up her neck. The older woman was looking at her innocently, like she was just asking about something that was part of the getting-to-know stage.

"Oh. Post-its?"

Jimin wanted to hope. She found herself thinking, that in some way, Minjeong had kept those post-its she'd been giving her at work.

"Um, yes. Post-its…"

"Okay," Jimin said, already noticing that the blonde was being extremely vague. Was she getting uncomfortable? She wanted to find out, thinking there was something more to it. It was definitely not because she wanted to know if Minjeong had been keeping her notes like she was sentimental. No, Minjeong didn't seem like the type. "Can I ask…?"

Minjeong let out a breath. "Okay."

"Are you sure?"

Minjeong just nodded.

It took a few seconds before Jimin asked, "What are the post-its for?"

"I'm…" Minjeong exhaled like a pregnant woman doing breathing exercises. This was hard. "Quite sentimental." The older woman nodded in return, signaling her to go on. "I've also been keeping those notes you that you've been giving me."

Jimin raised a brow, although she was trying to fight the joy creeping in. "That's it?"

"Well—" Minjeong looked away, fiddling with her fingers. "—it's not just the ones from the office…" she muttered. This was certainly not how she planned on telling Jimin, nor did she even plan on telling her in the first place.

"Like from college or something? Some… love notes from class?" the older woman teased.

She was so not getting it. How can Minjeong make her understand without exactly telling her? This is, by far, the most embarrassing thing she'd ever had to say.

"I kept those stupid notes you gave me in high school, okay!" Minjeong finally exclaimed. Then, her own hand flew to her mouth, like she was just frightened of her own statement. Red tinged Minjeong's ears.

"You… did?" Jimin asked, unsure of what she was even asking. But upon realization, it was instantly replaced by amusement as she leaned her head closer to the blonde. "Kim Minjeong…. you—did you have a crush on me all this time?" She then gasped, quite exaggeratedly at that, "Oh my god, was I your first love?!"

Minjeong immediately pushed the back of Jimin's head, causing the latter to double over. She was just laughing—mostly due to the scowl on Minjeong's face—not caring that she was just hit once again.

"Jimin I swear if you laugh again I will personally dig up your grave."

"It's—I'm sorry—haah…." Jimin said in between laughs. She almost choked on her spit trying to contain it. "Sorry," she said, serious this time. "But seriously, since high school?"

"Yes…" Minjeong shyly admitted, "But it's not like I kept them because of that! I-it's bad for the environment."

(Yes, of course, wasting paper is bad.)

Jimin just deadpanned, "Paper is biodegradeable."

In truth, Jimin found it very adorable. That all this time, the seemingly cold woman was a sentimental one who kept her notes from when they were kids, even though they mostly contained insults or backhanded compliments. It's cute. Minjeong was being very cute at the moment.

The older woman snaked an arm around Minjeong's shoulders when she had just huffed and stopped talking, looking all pouty and sulking. It was probably not easy for her, Jimin thought, but the fact that she got the courage to admit it alone made Jimin feel all soft inside.

Minjeong just let Jimin pull her close, not saying a word. The pout on her face was slowly disappearing, replaced by a soft look that Jimin could only interpret as fine, we'll hug but I'm still annoyed at you. Jimin took that as a win.

After a while, Minjeong said, "I hate you."

"You love me," Jimin retorted, snickering.

Both of them froze.

"I-I mean—you know what I mean!" Jimin immediately added, back suddenly straight on the sofa.

"A-alright…" Minjeong replied. "You know, since it's out in the open now…" She felt really nervous, mimicking Jimin's position on the sofa. "I was um, also planning to give you something on white day back then."

There, I finally said it. She hoped it wasn't too weird, Jimin would probably think—

"What was it?" Jimin turned to her, anticipation written all over her face. Of course she'd find amusement in this. But in reality, Jimin was excited. Like she was actually waiting for Minjeong to spawn with said gift.

"Oh, you know," Minjeong began, looking intently at the coffee table in front of them. "Just a chocolate bar," she said, trying to play it cool like it wasn't a big deal at all.

Jimin chuckled. She could imagine a young Minjeong trying to give her a present. But why didn't she? Jimin wondered.

"What happened?"

Getting reminded of why she didn't give it to the older woman, Minjeong found herself huffing.

So Jimin asked, "What?"

"You were um, busy…" answered Minjeong. She really didn't want to recall it. It was so long ago.

Why am I so affected?

Minjeong suddenly felt her throat go dry. She stood up to get herself a glass of water from the kitchen.

Jimin's gaze followed her. "Where are you going?"

"I'm thirsty."

Jimin trailed behind her to the kitchen. The blonde still hadn't answered her question.

"What did you mean when you said I was busy?" she asked, standing behind Minjeong and resting her chin atop the woman's shoulder as she was busy drinking her water.

Minjeong felt her face heat up behind the glass of water. Jimin wouldn't notice the blushing mess that she was, right?

This feeling was so foreign to her. Because why was she so uncomfortable thinking about seeing Jimin being confessed to by another girl? It was in the past. And these kind of confessions happened all the time during high school. She should be used to it, especially now that Jimin became such a beautiful woman. Plus they were just kids.

"Nothing, you were just busy. I didn't want to disturb you or anything."

(Now that wasn't suspicious at all.)

Jimin tried to remember what she was doing at the time even though it was so long ago. "Hm, I'm pretty sure I was…" she pondered. "What year was this?"

"Stop thinking about it," Minjeong tried to dismiss the topic. "It doesn't matter, okay?"

Jimin hugged her from behind. It seemed like Minjeong really didn't want to talk about it. Although since it was White Day, she might have had an idea about what 'busy' meant. She just hoped Minjeong didn't beat herself up about it too much back then.

"Okay." She kissed Minjeong's cheek lightly as the woman set her glass down the counter. "I'm dropping it, hm? Now stop pouting."

"I was not pouting."

"Whatever you say, Miss Kim."

Jimin ended up staying until late that day. She would have stayed the whole weekend had Minjeong not kicked her out for the reason of 'wearing your own clothes,' whatever that's supposed to mean.

She still went home with a smile on her face, because Minjeong had begrudgingly given her a goodbye kiss at her doorway.

("Oh come on! Why do I need to go home? Let me borrow your business attire for Monday—"

Minjeong was pushing her out the door, and Jimin had already been forcibly made to change into her own clothes and her shoes.

And so Minjeong made her a deal she couldn't refuse. "Will you go home if I give you a kiss?"

Jimin's face automatically brightened up. What a dork.)

They had talked about a lot of things during her stay, some joking around or going down memory lane. It was now Monday morning, just an hour before Jimin needed to leave for work. She stayed up a little later than usual because she couldn't stop thinking about the stuff they'd talked about. She found herself smiling at times, recalling how Minjeong admitted that she'd been keeping the post-its this whole time. Heck, the younger woman had been keeping even the evil ones. It made Jimin all giddy inside. She wasn't able to sleep much because she would blush and turn in bed, giggling.

Even so, Jimin felt well-rested and ready for work. It was definitely not because she was going to see a certain blonde-haired manager today.

Minjeong had asked her not to do the carpool as much, lest they be caught going to work together and be under the suspicion of dating rumors. That was the last thing they needed, and Jimin had sort of agreed.

Because she really wanted to take Minjeong to work. Maybe take her everyday if the manager let her. Jimin sighed at the thought. She already missed her.

God, you're down bad, Yu Jimin…

Jimin finally saw her at lunch. Aeri was conveniently out sick today. Thank god. They could have a… lunch date?

No no, this wasn't that. This was just two colleagues having lunch together. But still, Aeri's absence was a welcome event. Not that Jimin wanted her to be sick but they didn't have to pretend to not be as close as they really were around their friend.

"Are you alright? Is the food not good?" Minjeong asked.

Damn it, she must have been zoning out.

"Huh? Oh, no. I was just thinking about something."

Minjeong continued eating. Her cheeks puffed up as she chewed and Jimin was resisting the urge to poke them. "Hm? Like what?"

She had to make an excuse. "Uhh I was thinking about Aeri…"

That made Minjeong momentarily pause from chewing, then she resumed, looking at Jimin curiously. "Aeri?"

"Oh, you know, 'cause she's sick."

Minjeong nodded. "Oh, yeah. It's too bad."

Thank god she didn't think anything of it. Or so Jimin thought. Because she couldn't stop herself from saying the next words.

"Should we tell Aeri?"

Minjeong looked at her again. It was like she was expecting this one way or another. "Hm?"

"You know…" Jimin began. "About us." She picked at her food, not really looking at the manager.

"Oh. That's… I don't know. Should we?" Minjeong asked back.

"Um…" Jimin hesitated. She expected only a 'yes' or 'no.' She forgets, sometimes, that she was part of this too and Minjeong had stopped trying to be the boss in this… situationship. Ugh, she hated that term so much. It sounded too hip for her taste. "We probably shouldn't. I mean, maybe—not yet."

Honestly it felt like something they should talk about in a more serious setting. Maybe not during lunch at work.

"Hm," Minjeong just hummed. "I agree."

And not much was said after that. It seemed Minjeong was thinking the same thing.

Lunch ended and they walked side-by-side going to the elevators. Jimin guessed she should probably fall a step back once they got upstairs. Minjeong silently thanked her for doing so and bid her goodbye with a See you, Jimin once the doors opened.

Jimin stared at her back as the woman entered her office. Just looking at her walking made Jimin want to be close to her again. Was it normal to feel like this?

She was not that into Minjeong, right?

Right.

It had been a few weeks, and the two of them managed to, from time to time, go to work together without being caught together. It was only Rei who noticed that they'd been coming in at the same time, but it took one look from Minjeong and her lips were sealed.

Jimin was enjoying the secret romance a little bit too much. Between catching the younger woman during coffee breaks and bathroom breaks, Jimin had a thrill being Minjeong's 'secret lover.'

But as one can predict, the hiding would not go on for much longer, if their close call was any indication.

Jimin caught Minjeong going for one of her regular bathroom breaks, much to the younger woman's annoyance. (Not really.)

Jimin slotted herself in between the cubicle door before Minjeong could close it, causing the manager to yelp—almost screaming—until she realized it was just Jimin. The taller woman locked the door behind her, grinning at Minjeong.

"What the hell, Jimin!" Minjeong whisper-yelled, eyes wide. She then got very quiet, trying to hear if there was anyone else who came in.

"Relax," Jimin said in a hushed voice. "There's no one here. I checked."

Minjeong slapped her shoulder. They were still whispering. "You had time to check the stalls but not the time to give me a minute to pee?!"

"Oh come on! I miss you already…" Jimin whined. She took a step closer and embraced Minjeong. The younger woman could only hug her back. They were already in here anyway, and she couldn't deny that she missed her too. But her bladder was about to burst.

Minjeong lightly pushed Jimin away and turned the older woman around. "Stay there. I need to pee. Don't look," she warned.

Jimin saluted with her back turned to her. Minjeong went on with her business. But once she was done and had flushed, Jimin immediately turned around and pulled her in for a kiss.

Their lips met in a rush, and Minjeong could only kiss back. She had no choice. She actually still needed to wash her hands so she just let Jimin take the lead. She melted into it anyway, because every kiss with Jimin felt as good as the first, even the rushed ones. Her hands remained in fists against Jimin's chest.

They pull away with one final peck. Jimin hummed in satisfaction. Minjeong's eyes slowly fluttered open, smiling up at her.

Jimin tried to get a feel for the bathroom if the coast was clear. A few seconds of silence passed before she finally unlocked the stall.

She yelped in surprise when she found Aeri checking herself out in the mirror. When the hell did she get here? Jimin was glued to the door, holding the handle so Minjeong wouldn't be able to get out.

"Aeri-yah!" she called out in hopes that the other woman in the stall would get the hint.

Aeri? Crap.

Minjeong stopped trying to pull the handle from the inside and composed herself. Beads of sweat started forming on her forehead. This was not good.

"Oh? Jiminie." Aeri looked at her in genuine surprise.

"Have you been here long?" Jimin asked, making her way to the sink. She washed her hands to act like she just went. Inside the cubicle, Minjeong was thinking of a million ways this could go wrong.

"Um, no, I was just fixing my hair."

Jimin finished washing her hands and tried to sidetrack. "Can't you do that at your desk?" She recalled Aeri's desk mirror placed conveniently next to her computer, which was next to her snack drawer.

"Well duh, the mirror here is bigger." Aeri gave her a knowing look and for a moment, Jimin thought they'd been caught.

"Right, right."

After a few seconds, Aeri was finally contented with her hair and went out, but not before sending Jimin a wink. Gross.

Jimin went close to the stall and in a low voice, said, "I'll go first so she doesn't suspect anything. You can come out in a bit." With that, she left the bathroom, passing by Aeri's desk and not paying any mind to her. She sat down at her desk like it was nothing. Thank god Aeri wasn't looking when Minjeong finally emerged.

They really needed to be careful. She then found a text message from Minjeong in her phone.

Hot Boss with Dimples
Please don't ambush me in the bathroom again. Aeri almost caught us.

jiminie
:(((
pls don't make me, i love our secret kisses

Hot Boss with Dimples
Ugh fine. Just in the car is okay.

Jimin always kissed Minjeong in the car anyway, but she figured that it was when before they went out the office parking lot. She'll take it.

jiminie
yayyy

Another close call. Aeri had finally caught them carpooling to work that following Friday. It had become a regular thing for Jimin to sleep over on Fridays and spend the rest of the weekend at Minjeong's.

"Oh. My. God," Aeri exclaimed. She was clasping a hand over her mouth as the two of them got out the car. "You guys are carpool buddies now?!"

Minjeong dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Just on Fridays. I don't like commuting during rush hour." Okay, maybe she was overexplaining.

Aeri narrowed her eyes at the two, especially focusing on her best friend.

"What?" Jimin asked.

"Are you two actually dating?" Aeri gave her a look.

Uh, yeah, she wasn't wrong about that. But of course, Jimin didn't want to force Minjeong to tell Aeri anything so she made something up.

"God, you're such a gossip. It's just carpool, Kim Aeri."

"Kim Aeri? You only call me that when you're hiding something. Hmm."

"Seriously, it's nothing," Minjeong added. "Come on, we'll be late for the meeting."

Minjeong went ahead towards the entrance, leaving the two behind. Jimin just shrugged at her best friend in feigned innocence and followed the manager.

Well that was a good save.

The third close call wasn't such a 'close call' per se. Minjeong thought they were finally, actually caught.

Jimin had reached out to Minjeong with her chopsticks, feeding the younger woman. By instinct, Minjeong had just eaten the food, hummed and smiled sweetly at her.

"Thanks, Jimin." She nodded, then proceeded to take a sip from Jimin's water.

Aeri was looking at them like they'd both grown another head. She finally snapped, "Okay, what the fuck is going on with you two?"

"What's going on with us what," Jimin said, completely unaware of what they just did.

"You-" Aeri huffed. "What?!"

(The two women were in Minjeong's living room one weekend, having another binge-watch of Grey's Anatomy. Lexie had just broken Mark's 'bone' and they were laughing at it together.

"Oh my god," Minjeong said with tears in her eyes. "Their synchronized walk after Callie realized it was so great."

Jimin laughed at that. "Lexie's panic was priceless!"

After the episode ended, Jimin had a random thought about them and their relationship. They weren't girlfriends yet, but it already felt like they were together anyway. So, she popped the question with no brakes.

"Hey, are you my girlfriend?"

Minjeong's head whipped so fast in her direction. "I—what?"

So suddenly?

Okay, maybe she didn't really think this through. But there was no other way to ask it than to just be straightforward, right? They were adults, they can have this conversation.

"I mean…" Jimin rubbed her neck, suddenly feeling shy. "We've been having sleepovers, we go to work together and go out on weekends too…"

Basically, dating and more. Physical stuff. Jimin didn't want to think about that now or she'll have... weird feelings.

Minjeong probably realized it too. "Oh. That… makes sense. I understand why it would be confusing."

"Yeah, so—yeah," Jimin uttered, not really knowing what to say. When it came to this stuff, she was mostly afraid of asking because she didn't want to rush Minjeong into anything. But she was dying to know. Were they together or not?

"Okay," Minjeong said, "Let's talk about it." Jimin just nodded and so she continued, "You wanted to know if we're together."

"Yes. Actually—wait, I just need to know where we are, you know what I mean? Like, are we exclusive or are we seeing other people… that kind of stuff. No rush though!" Jimin rambled. God, she was suddenly so scared. What if Minjeong didn't want to be exclusive? What if this was just casual? What if—

"Jimin. What the hell are you talking about?" Minjeong looked at her like she was appalled. Offended. She was frowning. (Jimin had a problem: Minjeong was too cute even when she was angry.)

Jimin's brain short-circuited. "Huh…?"

Minjeong started explaining, "I'm not that type of person. Of course I want us to be exclusive."

Has she been seeing other people? Is that why she's asking? 

"Have you… been seeing other people?" Minjeong asked, suddenly feeling small. She might cry.

No actually, Jimin might cry.

"What? No!" Jimin quickly denied. "Absolutely not. I only like you," she confessed.

Oh. She really just said that. Well, there was no turning back now.

Minjeong breathed a sigh of relief, and Jimin did the same. That initial thought of the other seeing somebody else seemed to have taken a toll on both of them. But Jimin was glad. Her questions were finally being answered.

"Wow. Okay. I need some air," said Minjeong. "That was crazy," she chuckled. "For a second I thought you were really seeing other people."

"God no. Why the fuck would I do that?" Jimin grimaced.

Minjeong rolled her eyes. She smacked the older woman. "You better not."

Then there was silence for a while.

"Does this mean you're my…"

Minjeong smiled at her, gentle. And even though Jimin knew what she was about to say, she wasn't nervous at all because whatever it was, she knew they were still on the same page.

"I only like you too," Minjeong admitted. "But… can you give me some time? I understand if you don't—"

Jimin quickly gave her a kiss on the cheek, assuring her, "It's alright. Like I said, no rush, okay?" she smiled.

Minjeong smiled back. "Thank you.")

Before Jimin could respond, Minjeong beat her to it.

"We're dating."

This was Minjeong. So, coming from her, that was unexpected.

Aeri was in pure, unfiltered shock. "I'm sorry, what?!"

"We, Jimin and I," Minjeong repeated, gesturing between the two of them, "are dating." Then, she took another sip of Jimin's water like she didn't just drop a bomb on their friend.

Aeri scoffed in disbelief. Without a word, she took out her phone and started calling someone. Said someone picked up in just a few seconds. Aeri put it on loudspeaker, glaring at Jimin.

Why her? This was Minjeong's doing.

"Hello?"

"Did you know?!" came Aeri's response.

"What? Know what?"

"That those two idiots are dating, of course!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"These two!" Aeri turned on the camera and pointed the phone towards two said idiots. It was followed by a squeal from the other line.

"Oh my god!!! Minjeong!" Yizhuo yelled, turning her camera on as well.

Said woman just shook her head while Jimin scratched hers and greeted the person on the phone. "Hello, Yizhuo. It's been a while."

"Oh my gosh you two! Jimin! I'm so happy Minjeong finally—"

Minjeong snatched the phone from Aeri's hand and quickly ended the call before her best friend could incriminate her.

"Okay, that's enough."

Jimin turned to her suspiciously. "Finally what?"

The phone rang again but Minjeong just glared at Aeri as if to say answer it, I dare you, and so Aeri unwillingly rejected the call and just sent a text to Yizhuo that they'll talk later.

"Nothing," Minjeong brushed it off. "Let's eat."

"Wait so, you guys are dating? Since when!" Aeri asked impatiently.

The manager seemed really serious about eating, so Jimin answered this time, "I dunno… a few weeks now? Right?" She turned to the woman beside her.

Minjeong shrugged. "Yeah."

"That's it?!" Aeri exclaimed. "Oh come on, give me the deets!"

"Uchinaga Aeri. Just eat." Minjeong scolded, which made her pout.

"Well at least you didn't tell Yizhuo first…"

Jimin winked at her best friend when Minjeong wasn't looking and mouthed, later. Aeri giggled in response, which caused Minjeong to look at her with narrowed eyes. But she immediately composed herself so Minjeong just went back to eating.

Now that it was out to their respective best friends, a dinner among the four of them was due, according to Aeri and Yizhuo. Those two seemed more interested in the why, rather than how the two of them happened.

Minjeong was getting ready in her room for the dinner when Jimin rang the door.

"Coming!"

She rushed to the door to open it and she was greeted by Jimin. The older woman kept it casual, wearing a denim jacket and black jeans, a white off-shoulder crop top, her hair up in a bun and… glasses? She wears glasses?

It was absolutely not cute. Nor did it make Jimin look very handsome. Minjeong refused to think about that right now.

"Hey, you," Jimin said, "You good to go?"

"Almost. I'm just about done. Come in."

She followed Minjeong to her room and sat on the bed while the woman did her makeup.

While she was doing so, Jimin just looked at her through the mirror, admiring her face. Minjeong noticed her staring and paused to look at her through the reflection.

"What?" Then, a small grimace etched Minjeong’s face. "Does it look bad? Should I change—"

"No," came Jimin's reply. She smiled, stood up and rested her hands on Minjeong's shoulders. "You look really beautiful, Minjeong," she said, making eye contact with her through the mirror.

Minjeong blushed, clearly not expecting the compliment. "You are very, very biased," she merely said. She continued working the finishing touches on her face, with the blush-on hopefully blending in with the real thing.

Jimin squeezed her shoulders, giving her a kiss on the top of her head. It felt so domestic sometimes between the two of them. She couldn't think of the last time she had been so comfortable with someone, the warmth radiating in ways Jimin cannot describe. Looking at Minjeong right now, she knew it felt right. They were just right. There was just something about the blonde, and Jimin found herself thinking sometimes if it had something to do with knowing her from before yet only truly beginning to know her now.

She watched with a tender gaze as Minjeong did her makeup and truth be told, she didn't even need it. But Minjeong will scold her for saying 'such nonsense' so she always kept her mouth shut whenever the younger woman was putting it on.

"Stop staring, Jimin."

Jimin just laughed, but went to sit back down on the bed. It didn't take long before Minjeong was done. She then went to pick up her purse from the bed. "I'm done. Let's go?"

"Yup. Oh wait, hold on," Jimin said, eyeing her. She placed a light kiss on Minjeong's lips, careful not to ruin her lippie. "Okay, I'm good." She grinned at her, fully unaware of how she's making Minjeong feel with her stares and light kisses and you-look-really-beautifuls. She trailed behind Minjeong as they went to the car, the younger woman pulling her by the pinky as they walked.

"So?" Yizhuo prodded.

They were now in a restaurant in the middle of the city. Aeri and Yizhuo sat opposite the two.

"So?" Minjeong said back, taking a sip of her ice-cold water. For someone who had been in a complicated flurry of emotions during the beginning of all this, she was surprisingly—and notably, calm.

Aeri waved a hand, already mildly annoyed. "Ugh. You're not gonna get anything out of Elsa here. Let's ask Jimin." She turned to her best friend. "So?"

Jimin hesitantly looked between the two. She didn't know what to say either. "Um, we're dating… yay?" she said, slightly raising her fists and shaking them in faux celebration. She instantly dropped them when she saw the blank expression on their faces. 

She sighed. "Okay. What do you want to know?" She silently glanced at Minjeong to ask if it was okay to talk about. The younger woman just nodded.

Their two friends' faces instantly lit up, leaning closer to the table.

Yizhuo was the first to ask, "Since when? Oh oh! And how!"

"Okay, chill. Well… it was a few weeks ago. We'd uh," Jimin paused, hesitating. She wasn't sure if she should go into detail, as in their first kiss. She then turned to Minjeong. "Um, should I tell them?"

Minjeong's eyebrows raised in confusion. "Tell them about what…?"

"You know…"

Then, as if Minjeong finally understood, she muttered, "Oh."

Aeri was getting impatient. These two were getting so annoying. "About?!"

Jimin was still hesitating. She gestured with her head for Minjeong to continue. "You tell them," she said, letting Minjeong take the lead because she still wasn't sure what part she should or shouldn't talk about. They should probably talk about that soon. Maybe after this.

Minjeong busied herself with the menu. "We kissed. Then we didn't. Then we kissed again. We started dating. Okay?"

"Oh come on," Yizhuo grumbled.

Jimin was a little surprised at how Minjeong was handling this. She didn't expect her to be so blunt.

"The hell, that's it?" came from Aeri. She looked at her best friend. Jimin just avoided her gaze.

Jimin shrugged. "You're not getting any more than that."

Yizhuo scoffed. "You are so whipped. You're like, her lapdog."

That had Minjeong laughing and covering her mouth.

Oh, Jimin was not amused at the comment. "What's so funny about that?!"

Minjeong just shook her head, waving a hand. "Nothing, nothing."

Jimin rolled her eyes. "Ugh, let's just order."

In the early part of the dinner, Aeri and Yizhuo kept teasing the two of them for the 'weird' circumstance of them getting together. Well, it was mostly Jimin being made fun of for being such a little shit to Minjeong and that she probably ended up being the one to pursue Minjeong. (They weren't wrong about that, but Minjeong was not any better.) Yizhuo wanted to tease her, but Minjeong quickly shot down any advances with a glare. Yizhuo’s best friend was scary.

Overall, it was quite a nice dinner. They did some catching up between the four of them, especially since Yizhuo wasn't part of their company.

When Jimin and Yizhuo went to the parking lot together (she and Aeri came together for some reason), Yizhuo said something unexpected.

"You know, I always knew you guys were gonna get together," Yizhuo told her as they were approaching the younger woman's car.

Jimin looked at her like she just said something crazy, and maybe she did. "What?"

Yizhuo just shrugged. "I don't know, you guys just seem like that type of couple."

Couple? "What do you mean?"

Yizhuo had already gotten in her car, not giving Jimin an answer and driving away.

I—what?

First of all, not even she nor Minjeong expected any of this, it just happened. Second of all, what?

Jimin tried to shake it off, trying to clear her head and heading to her own car.

On the way home, Minjeong hummed to songs, nothing in particular that Jimin recognized.

"What are you singing?" Jimin asked.

"Hmm, nothing in particular. Just random things."

Minjeong seemed to be in a good mood if she was singing nothing in particular. Jimin could admit, dinner wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, thanks to Minjeong's firm 'retelling' of their story. They didn't talk more after that, just enjoying the silence throughout the ride.

At the front of Minjeong's door, Jimin kissed her good night, but when she turned to leave, Minjeong suddenly stopped her.

"Where are you going?"

Jimin got confused. "Um, home?"

"Are you not coming in?" Minjeong asked. There was a bit of hope (and maybe disappointment?) in her voice, like she was actually sad that Jimin didn't think of coming inside. It was adorable.

At the thought of that, Jimin couldn't help but smile. "Do you want me to come in?" she asked, slightly teasing.

Minjeong gave her endearing moments like this at the best times.

Then, as if suddenly overcome by shyness, Minjeong muttered, "Well, I mean if you want…"

Jimin chuckled. "I'd love to."

They stepped inside Minjeong's home with Jimin hugging her as soon as the door was closed.

As far as first dates went, well, they hadn't really had one, not a real proper date. It was always just riding together in Jimin's car, dinners at Minjeong's, and sleepovers during the weekend. Minjeong had never been to Jimin's place either.

Jimin felt like a teenager scrambling to think of where to take your first girlfriend out on a date. Well, future (hopefully) girlfriend. God, this was so lame. But still, it was high time they went out together that didn't involve the office or Minjeong's place.

It wasn't her first time, that's for sure. But this was Minjeong, and Minjeong deserved to be taken out on the perfect first date. But what the hell was she supposed to do? Movie and a dinner were basic, and so far that's the only thing she could come up with. For someone who was supposedly experienced with relationships, she realized she wasn't always the one to initiate first dates, and when she did, said basic date usually did the trick.

Just then, she thought of something: swimming. More specifically, going to the beach. That should work, right?

But she wasn't sure whether Minjeong even liked beaches. So, when they're hanging out in the blonde's living room one Friday night, she thought this was the perfect time to ask this.

"Hey, do you like swimming?" Jimin asked.

Minjeong took a moment to answer. "Yeah, sure," she answered, continuing to watch the television.

"Um, how about beaches?"

"Love the beach."

Jimin furrowed her brows. The younger woman didn't seem too interested in this, yet her answer said otherwise.

"Really?"

Minjeong turned to her mid tea sip. She swallowed. "I do. Why do you ask?"

Jimin was suddenly flustered. She really didn't plan for this conversation, but then again, she wasn't supposed to make this date a surprise anyway, so she just carried on.

"Do you want to go to the beach with me?" Jimin asked, hopeful. 

Please say yes please say yes.

Minjeong just turned back to the television, taking more sips of her tea. "Sure. When?"

She was so casual about it, like it wasn't taking all of Jimin's mental stamina just to ask her out.

"I was thinking…" Jimin began, her eyes flitting anywhere but Minjeong. "We could go… as in like a date?"

There was a pause.

"Oh."

Jimin could already feel herself cringing. This was a bad idea—

"Okay," said Minjeong. "So, when?" she asked. If she was feeling as nervous as Jimin was, she showed no indication of it.

Jimin needed to relax. It was just Minjeong.

"I was hoping… tomorrow?"

"Hmm," Minjeong hummed. "I'll have to check on my bathing suit." She then stood up and went straight to her room. Jimin just sat there, not fully processing it all yet.

Minjeong came back holding two sets of bikinis. She held up one after the other in front of the mirror and turned to Jimin for her opinion.

Oh.

She'd seen Minjeong naked, so why was she suddenly blushing at the thought of her in a bikini? Dear heavens, save Yu Jimin from this woman.

"What do you think? This one, or this one?" Minjeong asked, innocently awaiting Jimin's answer.

"Uh." Jimin gulped. "The... yellow one—yeah."

Minjeong smirked, realizing what Jimin might be thinking. "Are you seriously getting shy at the thought of me in a bikini?"

Jimin's eyes widened. "What? N-no I'm not!" she quickly denied. She looked away, fanning herself with her shirt. "Just—wear the yellow one..." she mumbled.

"Okay," Minjeong said, giving Jimin a chance to breathe, but not before adding, "I thought you'd like the blue one."

She did—and Minjeong looked good in both of them—but to save herself from a heart attack, she chose the lesser of the two evils.

Minjeong just grinned at her and went back to her room. When she didn't come back right away, Jimin called out to her, "Minjeong?"

"Hm?"

"What's taking you so long?" Jimin asked, her tone close to a whine. She couldn't help it, she might be too attached to the younger woman at this point.

"I'm packing," the blonde simply replied.

There was almost a pout on Jimin's lips as she said, "Already?"

Minjeong peeked out from the bedroom. "You should go home and pack too."

"But—" Jimin protested, but it was cut off when Minjeong raised a brow. "Ugh, fine."

She trotted across the living room and gave Minjeong a chaste kiss on the lips. "I'll see you later," Jimin said.

"Isn't it better if you just pick me up tomorrow?" Minjeong asked, leaning against the taller woman and resting a hand on her shoulder. She played with a stray piece of hair on the frame of Jimin's face.

Jimin fully pouted this time.

"Come on, we'll see each other the whole weekend," Minjeong tried to persuade her.

"Okay…" Jimin meekly said, placing a final kiss on Minjeong's lips. She then turned around, grabbing the small bag she brought whenever she spent the weekend here. She grabbed her keys from the coffee table, bidding the blonde goodbye.

"I'll text you the time!" Jimin finally called from the door before finally closing it.

"Why is your bag so huge?" Minjeong pointed out.

They had just gotten to the beach and Jimin was carrying out a huge bag of her belongings from the car. It looked like she was packing for five days. She didn't look like she was struggling, having that whole thing on her shoulder, although Minjeong did offer to help.

Minjeong greatly struggled not to laugh at the woman, but only because she looked so cute hauling that gigantic bag that was in contrast to her small frame. It kind of looked like she was a kindergartener with a bulky backpack on the first day of school. Minjeong didn't want to crush her about her packing tendencies.

"I always come prepared."

"Yeah? Like that time you came so prepared for that presentation," Minjeong teased.

"That was one time!" Jimin protested, adjusting the strap of the bag on her shoulder.

They walked to the sand, stopping midway to the shore. The two women set down their belongings on the ground and Jimin began laying out a giant towel. It turned out, that was probably the thing that was occupying most of her bag, but to Minjeong it still looked full of what Jimin deemed as beach-essential items.

The two of them sat down. The cool sea breeze gently fanned their faces, relaxing them both. It had been a two-hour ride and they'd finally gotten their butts on the soft sand, opposite to the stiffness of the car seats.

"This is nice," Minjeong commented after a while.

Jimin replied in agreement, "It is."

They were silent for another moment, just watching the waves. Minjeong then took out a bottle of sunscreen, offering to put it on Jimin first.

"What?" Jimin muttered. Minjeong was already kneeling over to her side. Why was she always so confused around Minjeong? It wasn't like she was a stranger still.

"Sunscreen? For your skin, so you don't get sunburned."

"Oh. That's—yeah, o-of course," Jimin stuttered. She slowly took off the thin shirt that was covering her swimsuit, feeling shy as Minjeong positioned herself behind her.

Jimin felt Minjeong's warm, gentle hand massage her back. Her face was heating up at the contact. She was, internally, fighting for her life.

Was it normal to still feel this shy around a woman she was already dating? She kept repeating the words that had been plaguing her mind every time Minjeong touched her. Relax, it's just Minjeong. Stop getting so flustered or she'll notice and think you're weird.

So Jimin did try to relax, thinking of only beach-thoughts. It worked. She looked on toward the ocean, mesmerized by the waves reaching the shore. She was almost too relaxed that she didn't notice that Minjeong was already situating herself in front of her, her own shirt already off.

Minjeong's question pulled her out of her daze. "Are you just gonna stare at my back? Sunscreen me, Jimin."

"Oh, right," Jimin said, almost fumbling with the bottle. Her brows knitted, focusing on getting every inch of skin on Minjeong's back, gently lathering it up. When she was done, she handed it back to the younger woman so that she could put the rest on herself. She followed suit, and now they were both protected from the sun.

After a while, when they're both lying on the towel, Minjeong asked, "Say, what made you want to go to the beach?"

Jimin propped herself up, facing her. She took out a drink from the cooler they had brought, opening a can of sugar-free strawberry soda for Minjeong and handed it to her.

"Here."

"Thanks."

"Well, to be honest with you, I was thinking of a movie and a dinner," she started. "But then I realized, that's so cliche. Then I ran out of ideas, but I suddenly thought about this one time me and Aeri went to the beach one summer break and I thought, that could be fun for a first date, no?"

Minjeong smiled up at her. "That's sweet."

Jimin scratched the back of her head. "Well, actually it was just a random thing—you know, the beach. It was after I had thought of it that I remembered how much fun Aeri and I had."

Minjeong playfully rolled her eyes at the backstory. "You are so weird."

Jimin shrugged. "You like this weirdo."

Minjeong relented. "True."

Jimin gazed upon her then, observing the younger woman's face. Minjeong's skin was glistening from the heat, shining against the sunlight. She looked absolutely perfect in that moment that Jimin couldn't help herself.

She leaned down, kissing Minjeong soundly. Jimin gently cupped her face as they kissed. It lasted for a few seconds and she was too into the moment that she didn't care if anyone saw them.

When she pulled away, she looked at Minjeong in pure adoration, like Minjeong had just swept her off her feet.

"What was that for?" Minjeong asked, her tone without a hint of teasing or malice.

Jimin just beamed at her. "Nothing. You look perfect. You're perfect."

That earned her a chuckle from Minjeong. "Sweet talker."

"What? It's true."

They kissed again, and this time Minjeong was the one who propped herself up and initiated it. Other people be damned, she was going to enjoy this moment as well. Because Jimin had looked at her so tenderly then, held her face so softly, and it felt like she had nothing to worry about all along.

They couldn't just spend the rest of the afternoon kissing, so they started swimming after a while. Minjeong got on her back through the waves, and Jimin argued that the water was only three feet tall. Still, it didn't deter Minjeong from getting all up in her space, basking in the sunlight and enjoying the water even though Jimin splashed her face many times until she could only taste salt.

"Okay," Minjeong said in between giggles. She was caged in between Jimin's arms, wiping off the water from her face. "I'm tired of the water. I'm all wrinkly." She scrunched up her nose.

"Hm… I wanna spend a little more time here," Jimin whispered, pulling her closer and nuzzling Minjeong's neck. A hand went to the blonde's waist, then to her butt, giving it a light squeeze.

Minjeong smacked her arm. "Yu Jimin, this is not the time nor the place," she warned. She felt Jimin giggle against her neck.

Jimin's hand went back up to her waist. "Alright, alright. Let's get out of the water."

The two of them then walked back to their setup, drying themselves off with an extra towel. Jimin aggressively wiped Minjeong's face with it, causing the latter to shriek.

"Ah, Jimin! Seriously," Minjeong scolded. The older woman merely laughed at her, whereas she had her eyebrows meeting in the middle.

They bathed in the sun for a little bit more before snacking on some sandwiches that Jimin had packed for them, along with some potato chips.

When they got back to the car (and Jimin was hauling ass with the items she packed plus the extra weight on the wet towels), Minjeong was beat, eventually getting knocked out in the passenger seat.

Jimin admired her sleeping face during the drive every now and then. She thought to herself, it couldn't get any better than this, having the blonde peacefully sleeping in her passenger seat after a nice day out on the beach. She smiled to herself as she looked on the road, cherishing the moment.

All was going well, if you'd ask Minjeong.

Work had been the usual, nothing too hard nor stressful, and she had a wonderful girlfriend who'd tease her all the time, but she adored her nonetheless.

Wait, what?

No no, no, they weren't at that point yet. Or maybe they were? Minjeong was finding it hard these days to tell where they stood on the line between just dating and girlfriends.

They had been regularly eating lunch together (with no escape from Aeri because of the woman's FOMO), having weekly sleepovers, and a few more dates after that first one at the beach. (That was a good date. Minjeong wished she'd expressed herself more often.) But yeah, no serious talks so far about their relationship yet since their 'status: dating' one.

It had been… three months? at this point. They'd been officially dating for three months. Minjeong figured Jimin was going to ask her sooner or later, and she couldn't really tell you whether expecting it had prepared her or not.

(Spoiler alert: it did not.)

So when Jimin took her out on a date at a fancy restaurant, the alarms started going off in Minjeong's head.

Here they were, all dressed up both in beautiful dresses, Minjeong in a navy blue one and Jimin in a simple black yet elegant one that showed off her neckline very well. Jimin didn't know this, but Minjeong still got nervous around the older woman, especially when she was being sweet. Or attractive. Both, actually. Case in point: right now.

"How's your fish?" Jimin asked, taking a sip of the red wine she had paired with her steak.

Minjeong smiled, taking a gulp from her white wine. "It's good. This is lovely, by the way. The dinner and all, I mean. How's your steak?"

Jimin hummed in satisfaction after swallowing a bite. "So good. Are you having fun?"

Minjeong nodded. "Yeah. But it's a little fancier than usual," she said. A moment passed. "Can I ask, what prompted this? We don't need to spend so much, you know. I'll be happy with just takeout."

"Well," Jimin said, "I uh, just wanted us to have a nice dinner. And kind of a change of scenery every once in a while."

Dessert came, and while Minjeong was genuinely having a good time, she could tell there was something more that Jimin wanted to say.

"Are you alright?" she asked the older woman. "You look so… pale."

"Haha, yeah," Jimin chuckled. Oh no, she was beginning to get that silly and awkward look on her face.

Was this a breakup date? Was Jimin feeding her well before she broke the news?

Minjeong's thoughts were interrupted when Jimin presented her with a medium-sized velvet box.

"Here. This is for you." Jimin smiled at her. She was nervous, that much Minjeong could tell.

Okay, maybe this wasn't that.

Minjeong took the box, carefully opening it. It was a silver bracelet with a tiny charm of her initials, 'KMJ.'

"Do you… like it? Is it okay?" Jimin asked, her big dark eyes filled with hope. "I wasn't sure if you'd like sharks or dinosaurs, so I just got your initials on it…"

"It's…" Minjeong muttered, looking at the piece of jewelry. She honestly wasn't expecting this. The bracelet was beautiful. The thought of Jimin picking this out, debating between sharks and dinosaurs made her own eyes sparkle with happiness. She looked back up to the older woman. "It's beautiful, Jimin. But—you're—"

She couldn't finish the rest of her sentence, feeling a slight sting in her eyes. Was she getting teary-eyed at such a gift? Minjeong wasn't materialistic in any way, her parents raised her to be humble at all times. So why was she getting all emotional over a bracelet?

Jimin started panicking at the sight. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Minjeong. I didn't know—"

Minjeong shook her head. Thankfully, she was able to stop a tear from running down. "N-no. It's—this is amazing, Jimin, really. I'm… I'm touched."

Jimin could only mirror her expression. She was beyond glad that it made Minjeong happy.

The younger woman finally calmed down, letting Jimin put the bracelet on her wrist.

"Thank you, Jimin-ah."

"Of course. Anything for you, okay?" Jimin said, Then, her face suddenly turned serious. "Minjeong-ah, I have to ask you something."

Minjeong was about to dig into the tiramisu. "Yeah?" She looked up, tasting the sweet coffee-flavored dessert.

"Since we're, you know…" Jimin began, "dating for a while now, I figured I should ask."

"What is it?" Minjeong asked, not really thinking much of it. This was probably one of Jimin's intentionally cringey pick-up lines.

Jimin had yet to touch the tiramisu. Here goes nothing.

"I wanted to ask, will you be my girlfriend?"

That stopped Minjeong midway through getting another bite. "…Huh?" She looked at the older woman. To say she was shocked was an understatement. Then, she said, "Oh."

"Um, of course, you don't have to say yes, I can wait. It's not like you should feel the need to—"

Minjeong laughed at the mess that was Yu Jimin. "Oh my god, Jimin, relax. I'm not gonna bite."

Jimin's quick reply was enough to make Minjeong playfully roll her eyes. "Well, in the past, you have, so—"

"Jimin," Minjeong hissed. A warning.

Jimin chuckled nervously. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. She probably shouldn't have brought that up.

A moment passed.

"To answer your question," Minjeong continued, "Yes, I would love to."

The smile on Jimin's face could probably reach her ears with how wide it was. "R-really?"

Minjeong nodded, taking a sip of water. "Believe it, before I take it back." She playfully glared at the woman. It worked to make Jimin finally smile, but maybe only because Minjeong looked pretty when mad. The older woman's reaction made Minjeong smile too.

Jimin reached across the table to hold her hand. "Thank you, for saying yes. And uh, for even considering me in the first place. I—I don't know how to say this, or if it's too early to, but…" she hesitated.

"But?"

Jimin looked into her eyes earnestly. It was full of longing, and it felt a little familiar. After nights spent together and dates spent doing things they both loved, Jimin was now looking at her like they were the only two people in the room.

"I think… I'm in love with you, Kim Minjeong," Jimin finally confessed. "I love you, and… finally becoming your girlfriend has made me so happy and so lucky."

Minjeong looked back at her like she couldn't believe the words coming out of Jimin's mouth. And maybe it was a valid reaction, because she didn't know how to respond.

She hadn't thought about it, if she were being totally honest. Jimin being her first love in grade school didn't count as being 'in love,' that she was sure of. But now? She wasn't sure if she was there yet.

For the third time tonight, Jimin started panicking at the look on Minjeong's face. Minjeong should probably start smiling more, because Jimin started rambling again. "Oh no no, you don't have to say it back. Sorry—it's just that I've been wanting to tell you that, and I don't wanna pressure you into anything before you're ready. I just wanted to let you know—that this is how I feel."

Minjeong took a moment to think, unsettling Jimin's nerves a little.

"It's… okay," Minjeong said. Then, she smiled, genuine affection adorning her face. "Thank you for telling me." She paused. "But, I think I need a little more time." She looked at Jimin apologetically. "I hope it's okay."

Jimin only held her hand tightly in response. "Of course."

The look of understanding sent a fluttering warmth to Minjeong's chest. "Thank you for understanding."

The two women enjoyed their dessert, with Jimin spilling jokes every now and then. After dinner, Jimin stayed over as per usual, but tonight felt a little more special, if the sex was any indication. Jimin only gave her praises, and a 'solid 11 out of 10' which made Minjeong laugh out loud between heavy breaths.

But there were no mentions of I-love-yous, even though she could see in the woman's eyes how much she was aching to say it by the way she was looking at Minjeong with so much emotion. Minjeong appreciated that, but she wouldn't have minded it anyway. She felt no worry at all; she knew Jimin didn't feel any resentment towards her for not saying it back. Because Jimin was nice like that, and she knew by now that the woman would never mean any harm. She found herself admiring the Jimin at times, save for when the dork in her came out. It was a little annoying (affectionate) and she wouldn't have it any other way.

The time came sooner than expected. No, it wasn't on purpose. And no, Minjeong was not prepared for it at all. It just… happened.

Yizhuo was nothing but supportive when she told her best friend about the whole becoming official thing. Aeri full-on freaked out at the news when they told her one day at lunch. She also told Yizhuo about Jimin telling her she loved her, and how she didn't say it back yet. Yizhuo merely nodded at the coffee shop they were at, intently listening to Minjeong's story.

("Well? Do you feel the same though?"

"I don't… know? I mean, if I really try to think about it, it feels safe to say that I can say it back. At some point, yeah…" Minjeong trailed off.

Yizhuo rolled her eyes. "At some point," she deadpanned.

Minjeong furrowed her brows. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Yizhuo pointed at her. "You could have totally said it back. You can. You're just afraid that saying it will make it too real because you're afraid of confronting your feelings."

There was a pause.

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. See, this is why I'm the smart one." Yizhuo shook her head, sipping her coffee.

Minjeong just frowned at that.)

Needless to say, the union had been blessed by their respective best friends (their words).

One day, when they were kissing in Jimin's bedroom—a new setting for the two of them together—Jimin's hands started roaming all over Minjeong's body.

Minjeong let out a breathy moan. "Ah…"

"Yeah?" Jimin hummed. Minjeong liked that. "You feel so good under me."

It was plain as day. Whenever Jimin touched her, she couldn't seem to form coherent words. And whenever Jimin reacted the way that she did, humming in approval at how good she was making Minjeong feel, it sent shivers down her spine. Being this close to Jimin with the older woman touching her always made her feel indescribable things.

It didn't take long before Minjeong was soaking through her underwear. Jimin had been kissing around her neck, her ears, nipping at every inch of skin like she was going to run out of places to touch. Her perky nipples hadn't been missed. Jimin rubbed them through her button-down shirt, squeezing her mounds every now and then.

"Mmh, Jimin, I can't—"

"Shh, I got you. Just relax."

With swift hands, Jimin unbuttoned the blonde's shirt and lifted her bra, immediately diving into her tits using her mouth.

"Jimin-!" Minjeong yelped at the contact.

She was oddly oversensitive today. Jimin continued sucking her nipple, kept switching whenever it got too much on one side and Minjeong was a moaning mess.

At this rate, she was going to cum just from the overstimulation.

Jimin hummed, mouth filled with Minjeong's pert nipple. The action vibrated through Minjeong's chest. It was too much.

With one hard suck and a pinch to the other nipple, Minjeong came crashing down.

"AH! Hng god… Jimin…"

Jimin came up to kiss her, swallowing her moans. "It's okay, I'm here," she assured the younger woman. She might have been a little shocked that Minjeong was able to cum just from nipple play, but she didn’t show it.

They continued kissing as Minjeong came down from her high. Jimin caressed her hair throughout it, whispering praises. "That's good. You're good, Minjeong-ah." She gave her a final peck. "I love you," she said, looking down sweetly into Minjeong's eyes.

Minjeong looked back at her with as much earnestness.

"I love you," Minjeong said, still panting but not as much as before.

Jimin silently looked at her in shock before saying, "You love me?"

It wasn't the bad kind of shock, but rather in a way that she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Jimin was elated.

"You… love me?" she repeated. A big smile adorned her pretty face.

Minjeong stared into her eyes, her own glossy from the orgasm and at the same time from what she was feeling emotionally. She couldn't bring herself to think it was a shame that she hadn't said it in a different context. She wasn't just thinking about the sex, but everything else that Jimin was and everything that they had been through. In this moment, it truly felt like it was the right time.

Minjeong managed to let out a small laugh. "Yes. I love you, Jimin."

Jimin laughed in return. "You love me. You love me!" she exclaimed. She wrapped Minjeong in a bear hug, burying herself in the younger woman's neck. She then propped herself up and peppered Minjeong's face with kisses. "I love you too. I love you, I love you, I love you…" she said each phrase in between kisses.

Minjeong giggled at the older woman's antics. She didn't think Jimin would be this excited hearing those words from her, and she was glad she said them when she did.

They made love many times after that, always ending with those three words said to each other. 

And for many more times that Jimin made her laugh, made her forget her worries, and made her think of how happy their future would be, Minjeong never forgot to utter those same words to her. Jimin was her best friend, her lover, future wife, and past enemy.